# EUR-Lex - 52013PC0145 - EN

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# 52013PC0145

**Proposal for an amendment to the Commission Proposal COM(2011) 607 final/2 - REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the European Social Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 /* COM/2013/0145 final - 2011/268 (COD) */**

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2011/268 (COD)

Proposal for an

amendment to the Commission Proposal
COM(2011) 607 final/2 - REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE
COUNCIL

on the European Social Fund and repealing
Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006

Commission's proposal COM(2011) 607 final/2 is amended as follows:

(1) the following recital (6 bis) is added:

'(6 bis)  In light
of the persistent need to make an effort to address
youth unemployment in the Union's most affected regions, a Youth Employment
Initiative (YEI) should be created. It should support in those regions young
people not in employment, education or training (NEET), who are unemployed or
inactive, by reinforcing and accelerating the delivery of activities supported
by ESF funding. Additional funds should specifically be attributed to the YEI
matched with investment from the ESF. By targeting
individual persons rather than structures, the YEI should aim to complement
other ESF and national actions targeting young NEET with the objective of
implementing the Youth Guarantee[1].'

(2) Article 1 is replaced by the
following:

'Article 1
Subject matter

This Regulation establishes the mission of
the European Social Fund (ESF), including the Youth Employment Initiative, the
scope of its assistance, specific provisions and the types of expenditure
eligible for assistance.'

(3) In Article 3, paragraph 1(a)(ii) is
replaced by the following:

'(ii)     Sustainable integration into the
labour market of young people (aged 15-24) not in employment, education or
training, in particular in the context of the Youth Guarantee;'

(4) Article 5 is replaced by the
following:

'Article 5
Indicators

1.           Common indicators
as set out in the Annex I to this Regulation and programme specific indicators
shall be used in accordance with Article 24(3) and 87(2)(b)(ii) of Regulation
(EU) No [...]. All indicators shall be expressed in absolute numbers.      
Common and programme specific output indicators relate to partially or fully
implemented operations. Where relevant to the nature of the operations supported,
cumulative quantified target values shall be fixed for 2022. Baseline
indicators shall be set at zero.           
Common and programme specific result indicators relate to the priority axes.
Baseline indicators shall use the latest available data. Cumulative quantified
target values shall be fixed for 2022.

1 bis.      In addition to paragraph 1,
indicators as set out in the Annex II to this Regulation shall be used for all
operations supported under the investment priority referred
to in Article 3(1)(a)(ii). All
indicators set out in Annex II to this Regulation shall be linked with a
quantified cumulative target value for 2022 and a baseline.

2.           At the same time as the
annual implementation reports, the managing authority shall transmit
electronically structured data for each investment priority. The data shall
cover the categorisation and the output and result indicators.'

(5) the following Chapter III bis is
added:

'Chapter III
bis
Youth Employment Initiative

Article 15 i
Objective of the Youth
Employment Initiative

The Youth Employment Initiative shall
support the fight against youth unemployment in the eligible regions of the
Union, as referred to in Annex IIIter to Regulation
(EU) No [CPR] through support to actions under Article
3 (1) (a) (ii) of this Regulation. It shall target all young
persons (aged 15-24) not in employment, education or training, residing in the
eligible regions, who are inactive or unemployed (including long-term
unemployed), and registered or not as seeking work.

In agreement with the Commission, the
Member State may decide to allocate a limited amount not exceeding 10% of the
funds under the YEI for young persons residing in sub-regions which experience
high youth unemployment levels and which are outside the eligible NUTS 2
regions.

Article 15ii
 Thematic concentration

The specific allocation for YEI shall not
be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the thematic concentration
referred to in Article 4.

Article 15 iii
Programming

The Youth Employment Initiative is integrated
in the programming of the ESF under Article 87 of Regulation (EU) No [CPR].
Where appropriate, Member States shall set out the programming arrangements for
the YEI in the partnership agreement and in the Operational programme.  
The arrangements may take one or several of the following forms:

(a)
a dedicated operational programme;

(b)
a dedicated priority axis within an operational
programme;

(c)
a part of a priority axis.

Article 15iv
Monitoring and evaluation

1.
In addition to the provisions made in Article
100 of Regulation (EU) No [CPR], at least once per year, the monitoring
committee shall examine the implementation of the Youth Employment Initiative
in the context of the programme and progress towards achieving its objectives.

2.
The Annual Implementation Report and the final
report as referred to in Article 44(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No [CPR]
shall include additional information on the implementation of the Youth
Employment Initiative.

3.
At the same time as the annual implementation
report referred to in Article 44(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No [CPR], the
managing authority shall transmit electronically structured data for each
priority axis or a part thereof supporting the Youth Employment Initiative.
Data transmitted shall relate to values for the indicators set out in annex 1
and 2 of this Regulation and, where applicable, to programme specific
indicators. They shall relate to partially or fully implemented operations.

4.
The annual implementation report referred to in
Article 44(4) of Regulation (EU) No [CPR] and the final report shall present
the main findings of evaluations referred to in paragraph 6 of this article
assessing the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the Youth Employment
Initiative.

5.
The progress reports as referred to in Article
46 of Regulation (EU) No [CPR] shall include additional information on and
assess the implementation of the Youth Employment Initiative.

6.
At least twice during the programming period, an
evaluation shall assess the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of support
from the European Social Fund and the specific
allocation for YEI and implementation of the Youth
Guarantee.

Article 15 v
Information and publicity
measures

1.
The beneficiaries shall ensure that those taking
part in an operation are specifically informed of the YEI support.

2.
Any document, including an attendance or other
certificate, concerning such an operation shall include a statement to the
effect that the operation was supported under the YEI.

Article 15 vi
Technical assistance

The specific allocation for YEI may be taken into account by the Member States
in the calculation of the limit to the total amount of the Funds allocated to
technical assistance of the Member State.

Article 15 vii
Financial support

1.
The Commission decision adopting an operational
programme shall fix the maximum amount of support from the ESF and from the specific allocation for YEI for each
priority axis. The ESF shall at least match the support from the specific
allocation for YEI for each priority axis.

2.
On the basis of the amounts referred to in
paragraph 1, the Commission decision shall also fix the ratio between the ESF
and the specific allocation for YEI.

3.
Where the YEI is implemented by a specific
priority axis covering eligible regions from more than one category, the
highest co-financing rate shall apply with regard to the ESF allocation.
The specific allocation for YEI shall not be
subject to the national co-financing requirement.    
The overall co-financing rate of the priority axis fixed by the Commission
decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall be calculated taking into account the
co-financing rate of the ESF allocation together with the special allocation
for the initiative.'

Article 15 viii
Financial management

In addition to the provisions of Article
120 of Regulation (EU) No [CPR], when the Commission reimburses interim
payments and pays the final balance for the Youth Employment Intiative by
priority axis, it shall allocate the reimbursement from the Union budget between
the ESF and the specific allocation for YEI according to the ratio laid down in
Article 15 vii (2).'     
(6) the following Annex II is added:

'Annex II
Indicators for the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI)

The data for all indicators set out in this
annex are to be provided in the annual implementation reports as referred to in
Article 44(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No [CPR]. All data are to be broken
down by gender.

The following immediate result indicators shall apply:

·
Unemployed participants who receive an offer of
employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within 4 months
after joining the YEI operation*;

·
Long-term unemployed participants who receive an
offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within
4 months after joining the YEI operation*;

·
Inactive participants not in education or
training who receive an offer of employment, continued education,
apprenticeship or traineeship within 4 months after joining the YEI operation*.

The following longer-term result indicator shall apply

·
Participants in continued education, training
programmes leading to a qualification, an apprenticeship or a traineeship 6
months after leaving*.

By derogation to Annex I, data for the following common longer-term result
indicators are to be reported in the annual implementation reports as specified
in Article 44 (1) and (2)

·
Participants in employment 6 months after
leaving*;

·
Participants in self-employment 6 months after leaving*.'

[1]               Council Recommendation on Establishing a Youth
Guarantee, XXX